Entries this day: Big_digger No_monthly_professionalism Xtraceroute bike booyah_studying class dinner

Big digger

11:06am JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

Wow.

No monthly professionalism

11:14am JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

I'm not impressed so far with nomonthlyfees.com. They seem really unprofessional with typos and writing style in general. I tried to ssh to my account, but ssh wasn't enabled. When I asked them about it:

Hello.

Due to the recent HACK ATTEMPTS, Flooding of our network, Server
Defacements, etc., we have been forced to TIGHTEN our security for SSH
ACCCESS.

FOR SECURITY PURPOSES, your account will need to be moved to one of a group
of SPECIAL MACHINES where we will group many SSH USERS together, so that we
can monitor more closely the activities of the SSH SESSIONS, etc. and so
that we can BETTER/FASTER defend against the HACKING and FLOODING, etc.

IN ORDER TO HAVE SSH ENABLED ON YOUR ACCOUNT YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING (FOR
SECURITY REASONS THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS):

GO TO THIS URL, and FAX A COMPLETED FORM TO 909-888-4269

http://nomof.com/SSH_authorization_FAX.htm

INCOMPLETE OR INCORRECT FORMS WILL BE DISCARDED!!!

Thanks.

Joseph

I mean jeez, don't they know writing in all caps is considered yelling?

I had asked Charyl if they have ssh and she's like yeah, so I've asked her to handle this form; I'm not going to fax it to them from Japan.

Xtraceroute

11:13am JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

Fred told me about xtraceroute, the author of which I have contacted to see if he'll write a web based map thing for my bike trip.

bike

1:01pm JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

I went to look for a bike for my adventure. I found a shop that is close to my house and seems to have what I want. He's going to call his supplier and see if he can supply some supplies including a supply of my bike.

I want

1. a bike strong enough to survive a ride down steps

2. 20+ gears

3. a light that is run by wheel-driven dynamo

4. multi-grip handle bars for a variety of positions to hang on

5. place for saddlebags and handlebar bags and seat bag

6. Saddlebags, handlebar bags, seat bag

7. brakes, seat, and other things bike usually have.

booyah studying

4:30pm JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

Cool. I've studied for about an hour today, writing sentences here at St Mark cafe.

(ripe apple) このりんごはおいしそうです。
(ripe apple) これはおいしそうなりんごです。
(rotten apple) このりんごはおいしくなさそうです。
(rotten apple) これはおいしくなさそうなりんごです。

Then I drew a picture of a cat with a little stick figure looking up at it. My goal was to write, "that looks like a big cat," but I remembered we can't use that grammar if we are actually looking at something which is obviously what it is.

それから、おきい猫と小さい人をかきました。「これは大きそうな猫です」 を書いたかった。だけど、もしそれはもちろん、「大きそうです」書けない、 思い出した。

So I drew a speech bubble around it, so the next guy could say it sounds like a big cat.

Then I drew a huge dog overlooking the cat, and a speech bubble around it.

この犬のほが猫より大きそうです。
はい、そう思います。犬はこわいそうです。
東京を食べられるそうです。
たいへんだよ。きょつけって！

Wow. Comedic genius in Japanese.

class

6:32pm JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

Class with Mika was fun, which is good because she said she read my site, and I'd hate to have to write that it was crap and have her read it.

She's a genki fun girl who is interested in skydiving and surfing, but hasn't been skydiving. Same as me, but I haven't done either one. We chatted about cool activities such as bicycling across China and I showed her the promotional magazines that I got from various bike shops. I'm getting closer to locked onto a bike that I like.

Should be able to get it and bags and gear for around 100,000 yen. (~ $1000 US)

Now I'm rocking over to Masashi's house in Okurayama to chow; he invited me there to meet his family and I feel honored.

I'm not well dressed though, but I'm not too worried about it. I'd rather be relaxed than make other people uncomfortable for not being as well dressed as me. Like that ever happens.

dinner

11:11pm JST Wednesday 8 September 2004

Yummmmmm dinner at Masashi's house! Met his wife again and her mom and we had a great time with an elaborate spread of 手まきsushi. (手 = て = te = hand, and まき = maki = seaweed paper) so make it yerself by hand sushi rolls. Super delicioso and quite a fun time had by all. Talked a lot about my upcoming bicycling adventure (with questions in the back of my mind wondering if I'll be able to do it, and definitely appreciating talking about it and making it real) and a bit about Masashi's upcoming adventure in Chicago.

I was perfectly dressed to fit the occasion, and at the end of the meal I tried to convince Masashi that it's a good idea for him to help with the dishes.

- - - -

Their apartment is in a cool building with 8 floors, but the elevator only visits floors 1, 5, 8. Wow.

We used the stairs, which visit each floor.